Years ago I consulted to an extremely successful specialty printer. I was engaged to assist in international expansion. In a lighter moment, over some libations, the CEO shared a personal observation and irritation. “Why does everyone want to go into marketing?” he brusquely asked. Before I could answer he continued on stating there were great careers to be had in production, distribution and new product development.

My response was marketing appears to many as ‘sexy’. It has the reputation as the fun aspect of business. It encompasses advertising with its alluring mystique and Don Draper cool factor. Marketing gets the high profile assignments. At least this is what people tend to think and it is what I subscribed to for a time.

I soon learned that marketing has very unsexy aspects. I personally loathe tradeshows. They do not get you much but you get punished if you do not show up. I continue to question the value of traditional public relations. Who reads press releases except other P.R. professionals and old school media? Maintaining databases seems very uncool but it is critical. Writing and defending copy is a daily event. The company holiday card takes six months to complete and is completely frustrating. Not all marketing is sexy, at least at face value.

This bit of prose does not retread the familiar ground in brand naming. A plethora of articles, papers, blogs and books already exist to inform you about the elements of an excellent brand name. A few of them will even share the methodologies that uncover names like Pinterest, iPad, or SoyJoy (too few because most naming consultants consult a thesaurus and then write up an invoice). All of these jottings suggest the name is the linchpin of one’s entire brand strategy.

What is covered here is an aspect of naming not discussed by brand owners and agencies. That is, making the decision to change the name and the emotions and trepidations felt by the decision-makers. When I encountered hesitation or opposition to changing a corporate or product name from clients in my earlier days, I became frustrated. Having witnessed this psychology through the years, I understand the reluctance and now have proper guidance to frame and address these concerns. These I happily share here.

Historically, I have dealt with clients who have made the firm decision to change their brand name. There was no discussion or debate on that accord. Any discussion and debate was held until naming options were presented. Now, clients have recently engaged my services with the intent to rename but with no firm commitment to follow-through. This has been fascinating.

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Let me tell you a story. It’s a bit about our past. A bit about our future but more importantly, it concerns what is happening right now. It is also a story that nears 2,500 words because our complex world cannot be dumbed downed, reduced to a vague tagline, summed in a 140 character tweet, or captured in an oversimplified to-do list. True learning and understanding requires time and effort so heat the kettle or uncork a bottle and enjoy. Lastly, it was a dark and stormy night…

With that compelling lead-in, we hope you will read our entire paper on the evolution of storytelling in branding and marketing. Get it here SC_Storytelling.

I recall the 1999 attention-getting idea by Vancouver agency Rethink. The three leaders of the agency had just left Palmer Jarvis DDB to go out on their own. In order to create buzz for their startup they branded and distributed Rethink Beer. The product helped put Rethink on the map and remained on shelves until 2003.

This is one example in a longstanding series of agency experiments with product development. A new book by Leif Abraham, with an amazingly long title, suggests how Madison Avenue needs to change. His effort is called, Madison Valley: Building Digital Products. Getting the Most out of Talent. And How Madison Avenue Can Be More like Silicon Valley, which is a fine preview of the book’s content. The overriding premise is creative businesses should not restrict themselves to communications but should leverage their talents for real product innovation.

Having worked at, and for, a number of agencies, I know these businesses would love to reap the profits of an iPod or Nike FuelBand as additional revenue or to stave off the long anticipated lower margins resulting from an old business model. Yet, Abraham points out the reality, “Every agency wants to build a lab and make products. Every award show adds product innovation categories. But we haven’t yet seen a successful product coming out of an ad agency. My book gives an analysis on how product innovation is treated in agencies today, what needs to change and why it’s about more than just the product.”

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Our paper originally appeared in The Agency Post, Marketing, and Sparksheet. It was also featured on Flipboard in Advertising.

As the last season winds down, Mad Men is being examined for its impact on television and its reflection of society both in the period it is set and our current day. We invite you to enjoy this work which is rife with observations, insights and images that will delight fans of the show, pop culturists, history buffs, along with all those who enjoy marketing and advertising.

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There is evidence that people enjoy a series of articles versus an advertisement. In fact, 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company, while 60% believe it helps them make better product decisions (Roper Public Affairs). This has given rise to “content marketing”. According to The Content Marketing Institute it is “an approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

What is amazing about content marketing is the impression that it is new. Apparently, content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing their behaviour. That has been the intention of good, old plain marketing since mankind first traded.

The past fifteen years has been amazing for the practice and profession of branding. Its influence and application is undisputed. Branding is now a primary consideration and investment for any business or organization. It is also part of society’s generally accepted lexicon. For fun, over the next few days I ask you to keep track of how many times you hear the word “brand” in any context and how often you say it. You will be amazed at the number especially given that twenty years ago you would be hard-pressed to hear it at all.

To be fair and accurate, branding did not come out of the blue. Arguably, it has been around in a commercial sense for centuries. In the mid 20th century branding was first documented and formalized through the efforts of Procter & Gamble and other consumer products companies. For the next fifty years that is where branding remained. It was mostly applied to cars, colas and confectionary.

At the turn of this century branding exploded. It was soon employed by every type of business and organization (and in too many contexts and situations). Curiously, there is precious little thinking or writing on why this happened. Let me take a stab at it. Think back to 2000 and 2001 before the Dotcom bust.